01 · Two private cards, five shared cards
Texas hold'em uses a 52-card deck with no jokers. Each player gets two private hole cards, and up to five shared community cards are dealt in the middle. At the end you pick the best five cards from your two plus the five shared ones; you may use both hole cards, one, or even none.
You win a hand in one of two ways: your best five cards are strongest at showdown, or everyone else folds. Folding means leaving this hand; chips you already put in stay in the pot. This lesson walks through a fixed two-player example with arranged cards — it is not a winning strategy or a demonstration of real odds. Teaching chips cannot be bought, cashed out or exchanged.
02 · Start with one card: suits, numbers and letters
Before playing, look at one card, A♠: A is the rank and ♠ is the suit. The four suits are spades ♠, hearts ♥, clubs ♣ and diamonds ♦ — a pointed leaf, a heart, three round leaves and a diamond. Spades and clubs are usually printed black, hearts and diamonds red; red cards are not stronger than black ones.
Each suit has 13 ranks: A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K. J is the Jack, Q the Queen and K the King; none of them is a wild card. Four suits × 13 ranks = 52 cards. Jokers are extra cards not used here, and a Joker is not the same as a King.
In hold'em the Ace is usually highest, then K, Q, J, 10 down to 2; only in the straight A2345 does the Ace count low, as 1. "Same rank" means cards like A♠ and A♥ — same letter, different suit. "Same suit" means cards like A♠ and 7♠ — same symbol, different rank. Do the suit-recognition exercise below before pairs and flushes so you don't mix up these two kinds of "same".
03 · Hand types, starting with a pair
Start with these: a pair is two cards of the same rank; two pair is two separate pairs; three of a kind is three of the same rank. A straight is five ranks in a row; a flush is five cards of one suit (ranks need not be in a row); a full house is three of a kind plus a pair; four of a kind is four of the same rank; a straight flush is both a straight and a flush. With none of these, compare single high cards.
From strongest to weakest: straight flush > four of a kind > full house > flush > straight > three of a kind > two pair > one pair > high card. Within the same type, compare the ranks that make it, then the leftover cards, called kickers. The Ace can be low in A2345, but QKA23 is not a straight. First make sure you can explain this lesson's pair comparison, then practise other types.
Try five real cards: A♠ A♥ K♣ 9♦ 7♠ is a pair of aces. Swap A♥ for Q♥ and the pair is gone, so you compare high cards in the order A, K, Q, 9, 7. The best straight flush is 10-J-Q-K-A of one suit, called a royal flush; it is simply the highest straight flush, not a separate hand type.
If both players have a pair of aces, compare the other three cards: the highest first, then the next, then the lowest. A-A-K-9-7 beats A-A-Q-J-10 because the first difference is K over Q; you never add the kickers together. If the board already shows A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠ 10♠, both players can use no hole cards at all, their best five are identical, and they split the pot.
04 · Balance, chips and the pot
Your balance is the teaching chips still in front of you; the pot is everything both players have already put in. The button marks the nominal dealer for the hand. In a two-player game, the button posts the small blind and the other player posts the big blind. Blinds are required bets before the cards are dealt; they say nothing about who has good cards. Here each player starts with 100, with blinds of 5 and 10.
After posting the small blind you have 95; your opponent posts the big blind and has 90; the pot holds 15. When it's your turn, calling means making up the difference, so you add only 5 more, not another 10. Then you both have 90 left and the pot is 20. Working out the difference is where beginners most often slip.
05 · When to use each action
When there is nothing to make up, you may check: add nothing, stay in, and pass the action on. Once someone has bet, you can no longer check your way out. A bet is the first chips put in during a betting round; a call matches the amount you owe; a raise matches and then increases the amount for the round; a fold gives up the hand.
This example only practises calling and checking; raise sizes, all-ins and side pots come later. Going all-in means putting in all your remaining chips; when several players with different stacks go all-in, side pots can form. The next community cards are dealt only after everyone has finished acting in the current round.
06 · Walk through the four stages
You hold A♠ K♠; your opponent's cards stay face down. First come the blinds and your call — this stage is called preflop. Then three community cards are turned up at once, A♥ 7♣ 2♦: the flop. In a two-player game the big blind acts first after the flop: here your opponent checks, and you check too.
Next comes the fourth community card, 9♠, called the turn, and another round of actions; then the fifth, 3♣, called the river, and a final round. Both are shared cards like the flop. In every round, check whether anyone has bet and whose turn it is before reacting to the new card.
That is the two-player order. With three or more players: preflop starts with the player left of the big blind; every later round starts with the first player left of the button who is still in, going clockwise and skipping anyone who has folded or is all-in. After each hand the button usually moves one seat clockwise. Don't carry the two-player "small blind acts first" rule over to multiplayer rounds after the flop.
07 · Showdown: check the winner and the chips
Your opponent shows Q♥ Q♦. Your best five are A♠ A♥ K♠ 9♠ 7♣ — a pair of aces. Theirs are Q♥ Q♦ A♥ 9♠ 7♣ — a pair of queens. With a pair each, compare the pairs first: aces beat queens, so you win. You never add up all seven ranks, and spades do not beat hearts.
The whole 20-chip pot goes to you, so your balance goes from 90 to 110 while your opponent stays at 90. Your net gain is 10, not 20, because 10 of the pot was your own. There is no rake in this example. If both best five-card hands were identical, the pot would be split. Starting another practice hand resets the teaching chips; they never build up as an account balance.
08 · After the example: check what you learned
Use "Guided hands-on practice" at the top of the page to play the whole lesson as one hand: identify suits → post blinds → call the extra 5 → three community-card reveals with checks → compare the pairs → confirm the balance of 110. At each step, say why you chose that button rather than memorising where it is.
This lesson is not full match training yet: free raises, multiway all-ins, side-pot distribution and complicated showdowns are not covered. A side pot is the extra money put in by some players, which only those players are eligible to win. Be able to explain this example first, then move on to other hands and pot eligibility on the practice page.